Goan Spiced Sweet Potato Soup

The weather in Britain is getting warmer and, barring the odd cold day, the bitterness of winter is coming to an end. Indeed, my hopes of witnessing snow this winter have all but died, scuppered by unseasonably warm weather. Luckily, the weather is not yet too balmy for the consumption of a delicious, warming soup. So, I shall hide my disappointment for another year – it doesn’t often snow here – and shall instead consume an ominously large bowl of this strikingly coloured soup.

When I was reminded about the existence of my recipe for Goan Chicken Curry I couldn’t help but bring its flavour to one of my soups. Indeed, the kick afforded by the cayenne pepper contrasted beautifully with the creaminess brought by the soup – yet both characteristics combined beautifully with the sweetness of the sweet potatoes. The inclusion of coconut milk also really adds to the texture of this soup, helping it to be rather more dense than one moistened only by water. Please, feel free to feast on the delights of what will almost certainly be my last wintry soup for six months. I look forward to the moment at which WordPress erupts with the scent of summery soup, which is a different beast altogether.

Goan Spiced Sweet Potato Soup

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 3 large sweet potatoes, sliced and peeled

• 2 onions, finely sliced

• 4 large cloves of garlic

• 2 tsp ground coriander

• 2 tsp ground cumin

• 1 tsp paprika

• 1 tsp ground turmeric

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1 400ml tin coconut milk

• Juice of 1 lemon

• Salt, pepper and olive oil

• Fresh coriander to garnish

Method:

1. Bake the peeled and sliced sweet potatoes, along with the whole garlic cloves in the oven for 30 minutes, sprinkle the chucks with oil, salt and pepper. Meanwhile, fry the onions, ground coriander, cumin, paprika, turmeric and cayenne pepper in a little olive oil. Once the sweet potato is cooked through blend it, together with the onions and garlic, until smooth.

2. Return the puree to the saucepan, add the coconut milk, lemon juice and a cup of water. Bring to the boil, season to taste and serve with a little coriander to garnish.

Cost: Though sweet potatoes are rather more expensive than the common potato, their price is justified by their taste and colour. Despite this, the price of this soup remains impressively low at around £2.90 – it would easily make enough soup to serve as a starter to 6 or 7 people. One may lower the cost even further by replacing the coconut milk with Greek yoghurt, though the flavour profile probably won’t stay quite intact.

You never know with British spring time, we might still get some snow. This soup sounds perfect to brighten up a dismal grey and rainy day, even if the temperature has gotten up into double figures. I can’t wait to try this out

I can totally relate to your feeling that winter is maybe ending a bit too soon … it’s been oddly warm in Boston this season, too. But technically, it’s still soup weather. And this is a great-looking one. Love that you roast the sweet potatoes first. Must had some awesome flavor.

I was craving sweet potato soup today, but I wasn’t so keen on making a batch since the weather here is warming up, too. Now I must make some, whatever the weather. Curry spices and sweet potato are a wonderful match!

At least where I live, coconut milk is really cheap, much more so than Greek yoghurt.

In any case, this soup is going into my lunch rotation, I bet the spices deepen further after the soup resting overnight. Plus, it’s so cold in the lab where I work, a hot meal is necessary at lunchtime!

The weather is definitely getting warmer here in Toronto too, by Thursday they are predicting about 20°C; which means, we really need to make all the comfort foods we want now, before it gets too hot! This soup looks wonderful, so thick and creamy. I usually run my creamed soups through a fine sieve, it actually makes the soup much silkier!

Yes please! We make a similar one but with chorizo which works well flavourwise. We first had sweet potato soup it in the pump rooms in Bath of all plsces and it was so good I had to make some – I had not thought of using quite the spices you have so will try some of those next batch as it freezes well.

Made the soup Nick, and it was wonderful! (Had to make 1 minor adjustment – needed to thin the vegetables in the blender, so used just-made chicken stock to do that. And I roasted the cumin and coriander then ground them before adding.) it was lip-smacking good!! Thanks for a warming savory soup on this snowy day! it was delicious! 😀

I love anything Goan- the place, the food, the atmosphere, culture, people and did I mention food! I am not a fan of sweet potato, though there is a popular roadside dish of sweet potato-that is roasted and served with chaat masala that I really like. Besides that, my past experiences with sweet potato haven’t been too great. But this soup honestly does sound really appetizing, although I do not know if I’ll ever risk making it (the food blogger in me wants to but history tells me not to!)

I would not mind a warm bowl of that in my hands and before my eyes. Rather mild winter here as well (Vermont), though we have had some snow and one or two little storms. Yet while it is the end of March and we expect freezing temperatures to linger on, it feels as though the cold reaches deeper into the bones. A brightly coloured (must use proper spelling must we not?!), creamy and spicy soup is just what we need. Thank you.

I know I will enjoy it. As for proper spelling, that is the easy part perhaps. I have friends in Scotland with whom I can only communicate in writing or in person. I cannot understand a word they are saying otherwise!… me thinks someone ought to buy you a giant snow globe! 🙂